


The Tiger and The Lion

by ferric



Series: Complicated [5]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Chatting & Messaging, Facebook, M/M, Multimedia, i have a weakness for crack pair i guess, im so sorry, no they never met in canon, pls throw me in the trash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-08-29 00:25:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8468749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferric/pseuds/ferric
Summary: Yuri Plisetsky was going to buy the coolest leopard hat he had ever seen when some bastard in front of him took it. The friendship that formed through Facebook chat was unexpected but not unwelcome.





	1. Chapter 1

Perhaps it was fate because if Yuri hadn’t lost to piggy Yuuri, he wouldn’t have gone to back the clothing shop where he had gotten the coolest tiger sweater he had ever seen in his entire life in order to seek a consolation item. He had spotted an awesome leopard cap that would totally match his jacket and sneakers when he had gone the first time, but hadn’t had enough cash to get both the tiger sweater and the hat. So now here he was, at the most amazing place that Hasetsu had to offer, trying to find that hat again.

The reminder that he had lost to piggy Yuuri and wasn’t good enough to win Victor over almost soured his mood, but Yuri pushed that thought away and imagined how fantastic that leopard hat was going to look on him. It would match with so many things in his closet. It would be so amazing. It was going to—

Yuri’s thought screeched to a halt when an offending hand shot out and grabbed the last hat on the rack. He gritted his teeth in irritation, turning sharply to the bastard who was going to steal his hat. His hat, damn it! He’d seen it first. This fucker was going to pay—

And then Yuri was speechless because his eyes were caught by the most magnificent hair he had ever seen. So many thoughts and emotions jumped out at him in a jumbled mess, and he tried his best to make sense of it all because he had to say something, anything. Because that hair. _That hair_.

As soon as Yuri saw it he pulled his sunglasses further down his nose to get a better look. That extravagant golden hair fanning out like a lion’s mane, soft but regal and _so perfect_ , probably beating teenage Victor’s long hair by a hundred kilometers.

All that came out of Yuri’s mouth was something that sounded dangerously close to froglike croaking.

Before he could figure out how to recover from his blunder, the noise caught the attention of Magnificent Mane, who turned to look at him with his soft lips pulled into an “o.” Yuri wasn’t sure what was going on with the red tuft on the top of his forehead, but it…worked surprisingly well.

“Did you also want this hat?” Magnificent Mane asked, thankfully in English.

Yuri suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be furious at Magnificent Mane for stealing his hat, but he couldn’t muster up the anger. The more he looked at Magnificent Mane, the…cuter he seemed? Not in Victor’s sleek and cool way and not in piggy Yuuri’s stammering shy way but—and here Yuri scolded himself for thinking that piggy Yuuri was actually cute— _urg_ , he had to sanitize that thought from his mind—

“The manager said that it will be restocked tomorrow if you want this hat now,” Magnificent Mane said. “I can wait.”

Magnificent Mane became so much cooler in his eyes, and Yuri wondered what kind of expression was on his face right now because Magnificent Mane’s eyes widened in shock for a second, then softened into a fond look. He handed Yuri the hat, and fuck, maybe Hasetsu wasn’t too bad if people like this guy existed. Yuri pulled his hood down and took his sunglasses off because he wanted to thank this guy properly without hiding his face.

Magnificent Mane gasped. “Yuri Plisetsky!”

“Yes,” Yuri said, thrown off by the guy’s enthusiasm.

“I thought you looked familiar! This is so cool!” Magnificent Mane exclaimed, his voice loud enough to catch the attention of the store manager, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I can’t believe I got to meet you! I’m so happy! And I was bummed out that I didn’t get to see your face-off with Yuuri because I missed the train. Shouldn’t have left the house last minute.”

Yuri was relieved that Magnificent Mane wasn’t there to witness his loss. It would not have been cool. The reminder of his bitter defeat came rushing back, and Yuri scowled at the nasty thought that he hadn’t done his best—he knew he could do better—and that hurt. “It wasn’t good anyway,” he mumbled. He would rather that Magnificent Mane see him win his Grand Prix debut anyways.

“I’m sure it was amazing!” Magnificent Mane said. “I really would have loved to see you skate live.”

It was stupid how flustered Yuri felt at these words from a complete stranger. This was bad. This was really bad. He hoped his face wasn’t too red.

Yuri shuffled his feet awkwardly.

“I’m so upset that I missed it! And I wanted to see Yuuri Katsuki so badly too! I really look up to him, you know? He’s my idol!”

Yuri felt like he had been dunked into ice water. As if he was skating on thin ice this entire time and didn’t realize it until the ice cracked underneath his feet.

Of course it was about Yuuri. Of course. Fucking hell, he couldn’t get a break from that damn guy.

Yuri yanked the hat from Mane a bit rougher than he intended to. “Whatever, Mane.”

And just as quickly as the chill of disappointment prickled him a second ago, the scorching embarrassment baked him inside out. Fuck. He hadn’t meant to call Magnificent Mane by the nickname inside his head. At least he’d only said Mane instead of Magnificent Mane. That would have been so awful. He would have died without even defeating Yuuri at least once.

Mane frowned, probably confused by Yuri’s sudden souring mood. “I’m guessing that you lost to Yuuri. It’s okay, I’m sure you were good too! I’m so jealous of you though—I wish I could have been the one to skate against him and see his new routine up close!”

“Why are you so excited about losing against that piggy?” Yuri scoffed. He was miffed that literally everyone he met loved Yuuri Katsuki so much and even more miffed that he understood why that was the case. Damn it.

Magnificent Mane’s mouth dropped in shock. “P—piggy? How dare you?? Yuuri is beautiful. You know what? You don’t deserve that awesome cap. Give it back!”

“Hell no! It’s mine now.” Yuri tightened his grip on the hat. As if he was going to give it up!

“I can’t let it be taken by someone who would say such slander against Yuuri! No matter what his weight is, he will always be the skater that I love and admire!”

Love and admire? Was this guy fucking serious?

“Urg, not you too,” Yuri sighed. Well, whatever. He had the hat he wanted. He was going to buy the hat. And then he was going to leave. And then this awful day would be over. He would return to Russia and train so hard that the crippling feeling of inadequacy would be crushed underneath his skates.

“Wait! No!” Magnificent Mane (but now Annoying Small Lion) threw out a hand to stop Yuri. “Not until you apologize for what you said about Yuuri! That was mean and uncalled for.”

“What the fuck? I can say whatever I want. I can have my own damn opinion,” Yuri said, trying to step around Small Lion, but the guy refused to let him through. “Get out of my way, you brat.”

“Brat?? I’ll have you know that I’m two years older than you! And I have a name,” the guy slapped a hand to his own chest. “It’s Kenjiro Minami!”

“Okay, whatever,” Yuri said, although he was committing the name to memory. Seriously? This guy was older than him? “Kenjiro Minami. Yuuri’s fanboy. Got it.”

“No, don’t ‘whatever’ me,” Kenjiro gritted his teeth, his fists clenched tightly against his side. “My feelings for Yuuri are precious to me, and I wouldn’t have gotten so far in skating without them pushing me forward. Don’t make light of something so dear to me!”

Yuri was taken aback by the honesty in Kenjiro’s voice, and he was suddenly struck by the memory of his defeat, of the last minutes of his routine, where he had wanted it all to end. He thought of Victor’s playful but chiding words _Why it’s a feeling of course. Do you really have to think about it when you skate?_ Kenjiro looked so earnest and sincere that the scathing words that Yuri wanted to say wouldn’t come out, and he felt so guilty for wanting to say them in the first place.

No, feelings shouldn’t be taken lightly. After that onsen on ice competition, he of all people should understand that now.

Yuri swallowed.

“You have to apologi—”

“I’m sorry.”

Kenjiro jumped in surprise as if Yuri’s words had physically struck him. “Oh.”

Yuri scoffed. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not apologizing for just calling Yuuri what he is.” He could see Kenjiro taking in a deep breath in preparation for an argument, and he immediately cut in. “I’m apologizing for making fun of your feelings.”

Kenjiro blinked rapidly, his lips stuck in an “o” shape. He looked conflicted, like he wasn’t sure whether to yell at Yuri for still thinking so lowly of his idol or be diplomatic and accept what would probably be the only apology Yuri would ever give.

“I get it. Your feelings are important to you.”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“No, damn it. I’m saying I understand. _God_ ,” Yuri sighed. “Whatever, I’m going. Thanks for the hat.” When he walked past Kenjiro, the guy didn’t try to stop him.

And of course, because he couldn’t resist a cool exit, he said, without looking back to see Kenjiro’s response, “And I’m going to defeat your precious idol at Grand Prix. The one that wins will be me. You just watch.”

There was something oddly satisfying about the thought of Kenjiro watching him snatch the Grand Prix final’s first place right out of Yuuri’s chubby fingers. Very satisfying. Then maybe Kenjiro would stop fanboying over Yuuri so damn much. And direct his affection elsewhere, not that Yuri had any particular direction in mind.

“No, you’re not going to be the one that wins,” Kenjiro said, and the sheer conviction in his voice was enough to stop Yuri in his tracks. “Because one day I will make it to Grand Prix and I will defeat you! And then you’ll have to take back what you said about Yuuri!”

Yuri snorted and walked to the counter to buy his hat. He didn’t look back, but he could hear Kenjiro’s angry noises behind him, and the thought that Kenjiro had the guts to chase after him felt reassuring.

Well, let’s see if he had the skill to match it.

 

***

***

***

 

Yuri spotted it one morning when he was rushing to practice—the lion’s face printed neatly on a black shirt, calling out to him beyond the store’s glass window. If he didn’t hurry, he wasn’t going to make it back in time for practice, but the lion on the shirt reminded him so much of Kenjiro….

And sure, Yakov was going to yell at him again, but what was new? Since he was going to be late anyway, might as well buy the shirt and then snap a pic and load it on Instagram and Twitter….

“Lion!” he posted the caption.

Yeah, this was so worth it. He liked this shirt as much as that tiger sweatshirt from Japan.

Naturally he got an angry call from Yakov afterwards, something about how if he slacked off, he wouldn’t be able to beat Yuuri, and damn Yakov knew where to hit so that it hurt the most because Yuri nearly threw his phone onto the floor.

Just as he was about to put his phone back into his bag, a notification flag popped up on Twitter. He should ignore it because Yakov might actually kill him for real this time, but…eh.

Yuri smiled when he saw that it was a like from Victor, and then—

He blinked. Also a comment from kenjiro_minami.

“Where is this from?? It’s so cool!”

Yuri clutched his phone tightly. A warm feeling was threatening to burst out of his chest.

He clicked on the name and pressed “follow.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after watching ep5 of yuri on ice, in my caffeine-induced high, i thought to myself, "you know what would be great? if yuri p., who is salty with yuuri, and minami, who admires yuuri so much, would meet each other. it will be great" and then this fic happened.
> 
> i am so sorry. i really should not write when i'm high on caffeine.
> 
> thank you nikooki@tumblr for the beta, for listening to my crazy idea, and for the inspiration of minami being a smol lion!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenjiro added Yuri on Facebook.

 

 

   

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i needed an outlet for my caffeine high. i hope this makes someone smile. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri Plisetky regretted adding Kenjiro Minami on Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was watching a movie with friends and needed something to do on my phone ahaha
> 
> hope this continues to make people smile. :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenjiro couldn’t sleep. Naturally, he messaged Yuri.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am bedridden for the weekend bc i am sick. made this to have something to do on my phone ahaha.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri attempted to make jokes at Kenjiro's expense. Unfortunately Kenjiro had been at this game longer than he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Source for the first chicken leg image [is here.](http://www.food.com/recipe/baked-chicken-drumsticks-441172)
> 
> Special thanks to @nikooki.tumblr who tells me that Yuri should reply with the song “Apologize.”
> 
> im still sick so i cant write fic on my laptop. so i made this.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenjiro got sick. Naturally, he wanted Yuri’s company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not humorous like the other chapters. im sorry.
> 
> in the next programming we will get back to the humor. probably.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenjiro was still sick, luckily Yuri was there to make him feel better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and the story continues lol.
> 
> i wanted to write yuri low key hinting that kenjiro is cute and trying to change the topic


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a while since Yuri and Kenjiro talked, and Yuri was NOT worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was late guys. work had been killing me. and then i started playing acnl…so yeah…not as exciting as the previous parts, but hope it’s still somewhat enjoyable nevertheless. :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenjiro introduced Yuri to Neko Atsume.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yoi ended. i have a lot of feelings. also a lot of irl work to do. i needed some time to recover. also animal crossing new leaf happened to me. and other games. hence this late update. 
> 
> wow much plot. lol.
> 
> a special thank to @picklestpickle at tumblr dot com for her generous donation of the neko atsume screencap filled with kitties. bc my milkshake did not bring all the cats to my yard. 
> 
> happy new year everyone!! :D


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neko Atsume could be a very competitive game to Yuri and Kenjirou.
> 
> Also, say what?? Kenjirou's birthday? When??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thank to @nikooki at tumblr who pointed out that Kenjirou is a Leo and @picklestpickle at tumblr for the beautiful neko atsume yard again. The shitty yard is mine…
> 
> Happy thursday everyone. 
> 
> (i did try to be consistent and post midweek again...lol)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri acted...weirdly.

 

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sometimes i ask myself why do i let this fic be this long. lol.
> 
> this chapter is a bit different from what i usually write but pls bear with me. 
> 
> happy tuesday everyone!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenjirou needed some answers because it was not the same "kenjirou is a good person. I like him as a person" post he saw on fb. Yuri talked about how much he dislikes JJ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short update! i wrote the update this morning BUT ACCIDENTALLY CLOSED OUT BEFORE I SAVED IT. i had to rewrite from memory but ahhh i dont remember all the details. fjdshfjkdscsd.


End file.
